Timer controlled automatic ticket gate



Aug. 11, 1970 TosHlo TANAKA 3,524,168

TIMER CONTROLLED AUTOMATIC TICKET GATE Filed Aug. 2, 1967 FIG].

44/4 "---42 1a L1r 14 -15 TOSHIO 77WAKA INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent US. Cl. 340-149 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A normally open automatic ticket gate is disclosed. The gate is closed when no person comes in for a predetermined period of time. The gate is automatically opened a predetermined time after being closed.

This invention provides an automatic ticket gate of the normally open type for a railway station and the like, wherein the gate is automatically closed when no person comes in for a predetermined period of time, and wherein no warning is given against a person with an invalid ticket or no ticket so long as the gate is kept closed, and wherein the gate is automatically opened a predetermined period of time after it was closed.

There is shown an automatic ticket gate installed at a railway station and the like places, wherein the gate is normally opend so that passengers with a valid ticket are free to pass through the gate, but is automatically closed against a person with a false or invalid ticket or without any ticket at all. This type of automatic ticket gate, which may be called the normally open type. has a greater passage capacity than the normally closed type and is suiatble for use during rush hours. However, the normally open type has various defects. For example, during the time other than the rush hours, the normally open gate may give passengers the impression that the gate is free for them to pass through, and somebody may try to pass through the gate without a ticket. In this case, the gate will certainly be closed, causing the passenger to feel more or less embarrassed. Moreover, once the gate has been closed, it cannot be used until, upon turning on of a lamp or ringing of a buzzer, an oflicer in charge operates mechanism to open the closed gate. This will certainly reduce the passage efliciency of the gate.

Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide an automatic ticket gate of the normally open type, wherein the opening and closing of the gate is aptly effected 'as occasions demand. In accordance with the invention, if there is no passenger passing through the gate for a predetermined period of time, the gate is automatically closed. Under the condition, where a person comes in, the gate is opened or kept closed, depending upon the validity of the ticket the person has used.

Once the gate'is closed, it will not be opened for any person with an invalid ticket or without any ticket. In this case,,no indication, whether visual or acoustic, will be required since" the gate is already closed. Suppose that a person who is at the station to meet his or her aquiaintance or see him or her oil has happened to step in the gate. He or she has no intention to pass through the 'gate. In such a case, therefore, there is no need for the buzzer to ring or the lamp to be turned on. This is possible withthe arrangement of the invention.

In accordance with the invention, when the gate has been closed against a person with an invalid ticket or without any ticket, the gate is automatically opened after a predetermined period of time suflicient for an officer in charge to come to the gate, so that following passengers can pass through the gate without waiting an unneces- 3,524,168 Patented Aug. 11, 1970 sarily long time. In other words, the gate is closed for a minimum period of time, so that its passage efliciency is increased more than otherwise.

The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic top plan view of an automatic ticket gate of the invention:

FIG. 2 is a view taken on line II-II of FIG. 1, schematically showing the mechanism for moving the gate bar; and

FIG. 3 is a digram of control circuit for the gate of the invention.

FIG. 1 shows two structures 10 and 12 having an extension and laterally spaced apart to define a gateway 14 therebetween. Passengers are expected to pass through the gate in the direction of an arrow 15. Each structure is provided with a gate bar 16, 18 pivotable to open and close the gateway 14. The mechanisms for driving the two gate bars are substantially the same, so that only that for the gate bar 16 is shown in FIG. 2 and will be described hereinbelow. The gate bar 16 is rigidly mounted on a pivot pin 20, to which a sector gear 22 is secured. A gear 26 on a rotatable shaft 28 meshes with the sector gear 22. It will be easily seen that as the shaft 28 is rotated, say, counterclockwise in FIG. 2, the bar 16 is pivoted about the pin 20 clockwise as shown in the dot-and-dash line, the other gate bar 18 being ganged with the gate bar 16, thereby closing the gate. The rotation of the shaft 28 in the opposite direction will result in the opening of the gate.

In the structure 10, a microswitch 30 is provided, which is adapted to be opened by the gate bar 16 in its open position, and closed by the same gate bar in its closed position, and another microswitch 32 which is adapted to be closed by the gate bar 16 in its open position and opened by the same gate bar in its closed position.

A pair of passenger detectors 34 and 36 are provided, each comprising a light source 38, 40 and a photoelectric element 42, 44. The light sources 38 and 40 are provided on the inner side wall of the structure 10, while the photoelectric elements 42 and 44 are installed in the opposite side wall of the other structure 12., so that the light from the sources 38 and 40 project into the detectors 42 and 44, respectively.

When a passenger has intercepted the light beam from the source 38, the entrance of the passenger into the gateway is detected so that a circuit 46 (FIG. 1) produces a signal. As the passenger further advances through the gate to intercept the light beam from the other source 40 immediately before the gate bars 16 and 18, passage of the passenger through the gate is detected, so that a circuit 48 produces an output signal. In accordance with the invention, when the passenger has intercepted the light beam from the source 40, he is deemed to have completed passage through the gateway although actually passage has not yet been completed.

The structure 12 is provided at the entrance side (righthand side in FIG. 1) of the gateway 14 with a slot 50 for a passenger to insert a ticket into and at the opposite side with a slot 52 for the inserted ticket to be returned from. The two slots are connected by a passage 54, through which tickets are conveyed by a suitable means (not shown). As a ticket is being conveyed through the passage 54, its genuineness is tested and, if the ticket is genuine, the information stored therein is read by a suitable reader 56. The information read is sent to a collating circuit 58, wherein it is tested with respect to its validity. When the ticket has proved to be valid, the circuit 58 produces an output signal, while if it is invalid, the circuit produces no output signal.

3 When a passenger has stepped in the gateway to intercept the light beam from the source 34, the circuit 46 produces an output, which is applied to the input of an INHIBIT element 60. When the ticket passenger inserted into the slot 50 has proven to be valid, the circuit 58 produces an output, which is applied to the set or section of a flip-flop 62, the set output of which is applied through an OR element 64 to the inhibit terminal of the INHIBIT element 60, so that no output is produced by the element 60. So long as no output is produced by the element 60, the gate bars 16 and '18 are held open, so that the passenger is free to pass through the gateway. In this case, when the passenger has intercepted the light beam from the source 40, the circuit 48 produces an output to reset the flip-flop 62, thereby restoring the original condition of the system.

Suppose that a person tries to pass through the gate with a false or invalid ticket or no ticket at all. Then, the circuit 58 produces no output, so that the flip-flop 62 remains reset and, consequently, the INHIBIT element 60 receives no inhibit signal. Under the condition, when the person has intercepted the light beam from the source 38, the circuit 46 produces an output to be applied to the input of the INHIBIT element 60, the output of which sets a flip-flop 66. The set output of this flipfiop 66 energizes a relay 72 through an OR element 68 and an amplifier 70. When energized, the relay 72 has its normally open contacts 74 and 76 closed and its normally closed contacts 78 and 80 opened, whereupon electric current flows from a direct current source 82 through the closed contact 74, the contact 32b of the microswitch 32 (closed when the gate bar 16 is opened, as previously mentioned) to a motor 84 and back through the other closed contact 76. The arrow 86 shows the direction of current flowing in this case. Thus, the motor 84 is energized to rotate the shaft 28 and consequently the gear 26 counterclockwise, thereby pivoting the gate bar 16 clockwise to close the gateway, together with the other gate bar 18 pivotable in ganged relation with the bar 16. When the bar 16 has been pivoted to such an angle as to act on the microswitch 32 to open its contact 32b, the energizing circuit to the motor 84 is opened to stop the rotation of the motor and consequently the bars 16 and 18 in the closed position. Then, the passenger is prevented from passing through the gate.

The set output of the flip-flop 66 is also applied through an amplifier 88 to a relay 90 to energize the same, whereupon the relay has its contact 92 closed to supply current from a source 94 to a buzzer 96 to ring the same. In response to the ringing of the buzzer, an ot iicer in charge may run to the gate to take the necessary action and at the same time close a reset switch 98, whereupon a signal from a terminal 100 is applied through an OR element 102 to the reset or 1 section of the flip-flop 66 to reset the same, thereby removing its set output. This results in deenergization of the relays 72 and 90, so that the buzzer stops ringing on the one hand and the relay contacts 74 and 76 are opened again, while the contacts 78 and 80 are closed again, on the other hand. At this time the microswitch 30 has its contact 30b already closed while the microswitch 32 has its contact 3212 opened, so that the current from the source 82 flows through the contact 78, the motor 84, and the contacts 30b and 80. That is, the current now flows in the direction opposite to that of the arrow 86, so that the motor 84 is rotated in the opposite direction to that in the previously mentioned case. This causes the gate bars 16 and 18 to pivot so as to open the gateway, as will be easily understood from the foregoing description. As the gate bar 16 pivots so far as to act on the microswitch 30, the energizing circuit to the motor 84 is opened to stop the motor and consequently the gate bars 16 and 18 at the original open position.

In order to automatically open the gate once closed, a

switch 104 may be closed. Under the condition, if a passenger with a false or invalid ticket tries to pass through the gate, a set input is applied to the flip-flop 66, as previously mentioned, the set output of which is applied through the closed switch 104 to a timer 106. The timer 106 may be so set as to provide after the ringing of the buzzer a time delay during which an ofiicer in charge arrives at the gate to finish the necessary action. The output of the timer produced after the time delay will automatically reset the flip-flop 66, thereby restoring the original condition of the system.

A pair of switches 108 and 110 are provided for the following purpose: Suppose that the two switches 108 and 110 are closed. When a passenger with a false or invalid ticket tries to pass through the gate after a proper passenger, the gate bars 16 and 18 are closed, with the ringing of the buzzer or turning on of the lamp. However, no set input is applied to the flip-flop 62, which remains reset by the previous proper passenger, applying a reset output to the timer 112. Upon passage of the delay time set in the timer 112, its output is applied through the closed switch 108 to a difierentiator 114 on the one hand and to the OR element OR 68 on the other hand. The output of the differentiator 114 is applied through the closed switch 110 and the OR element 102 to the reset section of the flip-flop 66 to reset the same, thereby removing its set output, so that the relay is deenergized to stop the ringing of the buzzer. However, since the OR element 68 receives another input from the timer 112, the relay 72 will remain energized despite the resetting of the flip-flop 66, so that the gate bars are kept closed even after the ringing of the buzzer was stopped.

If it is required to keep the gate normally closed except during rush hours, only the switch 108 may be closed. When the previous passenger has passed through the gate, the flip-flop 62 has been reset, so that its reset output is applied to the timer 112. If, after a reset period of time delay by the timer 112, no passenger comes in, the output of the timer 112 will be applied through the closed switch 108 to the OR element 68, so that the relay 72 is energized to close the gate bars 16 and 18, thereby eliminating the possibility of giving the impression that the gate is free to pass through.

The output of the timer 112 is also applied through the OR element 64 to the inhibit terminal of the INHIBIT element 60. Under the condition, a passenger with an invalid ticket or without any ticket cannot pass through the gate, and if a person who has no intention to pass through the gate, such as a person who is seeing someone ofi happens to step in the gateway, the gate will not be opened, nor will the buzzer ring. However, when a passenger steps in the gateway and inserts a valid ticket into the slot 50, the flip-flop 62 is set, so that the output of the timer 112 is removed and the relay 72, deenergized, with resulting opening of the gate bars to pass the passenger through the gate.

Having illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention, it is understood that they are merely representative and that there are many changes and modifications without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An automatic ticket gate for a railwayv station and the like, comprising: means for defining a gateway; gating means movable to selectively open and close said gateway; means for driving said gating means; means for detecting a person who has entered said gateway; means for detecting said person who has passed at least a predetermined portion of the extension of said gateway; means for testing the validity of the ticket of said person; means operable in response to said testing means for controlling said driving means to drive said gating means to close said gateway unless said testing means recognizes said ticket valid; and means for causing said driving means to drive said gating means to close said gateway when no person has entered thereinto for a predetermined period of time.

2. The gate of claim 1, further including means for providing a warning when said gating means has been driven to close said gateway.

3. The gate of claim 2, wherein said warning is acoustic.

4. The gate of claim 2, wherein said warning is visual.

5. The gate of claim 2, further including means for preventing the operation of said warning providing means when said gateway remains closed.

6. The gate of claim 1, wherein said controlling means comprises: a first and a second memory circuit; a relay connected to the output of said second memory circuit and in controlling relation to said driving means so that said gating means normally keeps said gateway open but closes said gateway when said relay is energized by said output of said second memory circuit; and means for applying through a timer the output produced by said first memory circuit that has memorized the passage of a person through said gateway to said second memory circuit so as to reverse the output condition thereof, and at the same time to said relay to energize the same.

7. The gate of claim 1, further including means for resetting said controlling means to cause said driving means to drive said gating means to open said closed gateway a predetermined period of time after said gateway was closed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,221,304 11/1965 Enikeielf.

HAROLD I. PITTS, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

